A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Plant pests and problems Spider Plant has come down with bugs.

I hope this forum is for house plants as well?

I have 2 spider plants, one I have had a few years, has multiple strings of babies. Actually it is 2 plants in one pot, a variegated and a solid, and both have multiple baby strings. This plant is very happy and content...or was.....

I also have a newer one I snagged at a garage sale, it was pitiful and I felt bad and brought it home. About 2 weeks ago. I re-potted it the day I brought it home and it was just barely getting used to its new environment/soil.


OK, today was suck a fine day, not too hot not cold at all, this afternoon I sat them outside in the front yard to watch me as I did yard work. They were in the filtered sunlight/shade, thats all I was concerned about. Well when I brought them in this evening, the newer one had bucket loads of white eggs all over the surface of the soil, and some small flying things. I took that one out of its pot, ditched the soil, and thoroughly washed off all the roots. He now sits soil-less in a clear food storage container.

The other one with all the babies is sitting out in the entryway, bc its so much harder to do anything with all the kids hanging all over, I don't want them to break off.

I imagine I will have to do the same with that one, but I have no new soil here I will have to run out tomorrow and get some, or is there another way around this issue??

**I will **never** sit my poor plants outside ever again.**

Welcome, Sylver.
Even indoors, plants can get bugs. There are things that you can use on them to help them get over infestations. My favorite is a spray of about a tablespoon of dish detergent and a quart of water and you spray those plants. And also a spray the soil surface. That cures most of my plant ills.
There is also Neem oil that you can spray.
I will tell you that spider plants are really really tough plants. I live in the semi-desert in California. I have bunches of them in hanging pots along my front porch and hundreds as ground covers on my hillsides. They can take some light frost without much damage. And lots of sun or lots of shade. When the babies break off they take root and I just weed them out of where I'm not happy with them growing. I do not always take the time to transplant elsewhere. When the potted ones begin to get rootbound I empty them out of the pots and lay them on their sides. I chop half the root ball off and shave off the sides a bit and plonk them back into the pots with new soil around. They have gone weeks sometimes without water and when they begin to droop I notice and turn water on them. They perk right back up again.
If you do cut off or lose babies, those are very easy to root into brand new plants. And the mamma plant will just send out new plantlets.

Ok I will try the detergent trick. I wish we could have them as ground cover here, but last year I left a couple of my spiders hanging out back when we had our 1st frost, I seen the frost upon awakening, and flew out there, they never recovered.

I have always had issues with starting the plantlets. I stick them in soil after one breaks off, but they always turn brown and fall apart, dead. Do I need to do anything special?? I never overwater, and let them dry out before I water again. I have noticed they are not fond of too much water. I would love to make more pots of spiders with some babies but with my history I just leave them on the mother unless one falls off by accident. Then that one most always perishes. I actually have not had a successful plantlet root for over 2 years. Thus why the rescue of the poor garage sale one.....

Ah, the babies do need a little more water. At least damp soil. And then you do not cover them with soil but make sure those immature roots on the bottom are touching damp ground. Or leave them attached to the mother plants and somehow put the baby's roots on soil to begin to grow before cutting it from mamma.
Yes, your frosts there would be much more harmful than what I get.